204 WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 
where they can be seen from a distance; avoid putting 
them in the shadow of grass, brush or trees. Keep 
them in an open space, and, if possible, so the sun will 
shine on them from the direction the ducks are coming 
from. This will make them conspicuous, and loom 
up attractively. Use all the decoys you have, the more 
the better. Large flocks allay suspicion. Build your- 
self a blind, not too high to interfere with your shoot- 
ing; hide your boat, keep your eyes open, your tongue 
still, and if birds are moving, you will soon have busi- 
ness on hand. 
Red-heads are scattered pretty well throughout the 
United States. The finest shooting I ever had was in 
the spring of 1888,0n the Missouri river bottom, about 
four miles north of Missouri Valley, Iowa. I had prom- 
ised my friend, C. C. Williams of that place, if he 
would telegraph me when red-head shooting was at its 
height, I would put in a day with him. He did so. 
We left Missouri Valley in the afternoon at four, drove 
to the shooting grounds, and at half-past four, my com- 
panion, McPherson and myself, with about thirty de- 
coys, started out ina bond boat. The spot was fully 
three miles from the Missouri river. It was in early 
spring, the snow had melted and the bottom land was 
overflowed for miles. The preceding night had been 
cold, and sheet ice to the thickness of half an inch had 
formed running from the shallow shore toward the 
deeper water some two hundred yards. McPherson 
pushed and I broke ice, and at five o’clock we were in 
our blind, with decoys set out. My companion was a 
man of acknowledged skill as a shot, but insisted that 
I should do all the shooting, as he had been enjoying it 
for some days, and he was resolved that I should 
